Discover The Best Way To Smoke Chicken: Deliciously Tender Results With The Pit Barrel Cooker!

Are you craving the mouthwatering flavors of perfectly smoked whole chicken? Are you looking for the best way to smoke chicken?

Then look no further than this recipe that we have here using the Pit Barrel Cooker, the ultimate tool for easy smoked chicken that turns out deliciously tender every time.

For those who don't know, the Pit Barrel Cooker is a charcoal smoker that has gained a reputation among barbecue enthusiasts for its simplicity and outstanding results. It is a great tool to use for those who consider themselves charcoal-smoking beginners.

In this article, we'll are going to delve into the magic of smoking a whole chicken on the Pit Barrel Cooker, from an overnight brine, to spatchcock preparation, to hook placement, and tips for achieving perfectly tender and juicy smoked chicken that will impress your taste buds and your friends.

If you are ready to elevate your barbecue game then I am ready.

So let's get started!

Smoking chicken is a culinary technique that imparts a unique and irresistible flavor to the meat, making it tender, juicy, and full of smoky goodness. The process involves cooking chicken slowly over low heat in a smoker or barbecue, infusing it with the smoky flavors of wood chips or chunks, and creating a mouthwatering, aromatic experience for your taste buds.

The key to achieving perfectly smoked chicken lies in the careful balance of time, temperature, and flavor. By using the right equipment, such as the popular Pit Barrel Cooker, and following a reliable recipe, you can easily smoke a chicken to perfection in your own backyard.

Your result will be a succulent, flavorful chicken with a beautiful smoke ring and a deliciously smoky taste that had everyone asking for seconds.

The first step in this process is going to be letting this bird sit in a brine overnight. I have found that a 5 lbs whole chicken is a perfect size to fit inside a 1-gallon freezer bag.

Before placing the whole chicken into the freezer bag make sure to rinse the chicken in the sink and remove the giblets, if there are any within the inside of the chicken.

After placing your chicken into the freezer bag. Fill the freezer bag with cold water until the whole chicken has been submerged.

At this point, we want to ensure that the freezer bag can be closed with a good seal and that there aren't any leaks.

Next, take a handful of seasoning of your choice and add it to the water within the freezer bag. I decided that I would use lemon pepper. However, any meat-smoking rub would be fine to use. Also, I know that a handful is not really a precise measurement but for our purposes, it is going to be enough.

With the bag sealed gently move the bag back and forth until the seasoning and the water have mixed together.

Congratulations!!! You have now made the brine that our smoked chicken is going to sit in overnight in the refrigerator.

Keep in mind that the main reason that we are using brine for the chicken is that the brine will impart flavor to the thicker parts of the chicken like the breasts and chicken thighs.

Now it is time to remove the whole chicken from the freezer bag and rinse the access brine and salt from the skin of the chicken. You will also want to rinse the inside of the chicken.

Then once your chicken has been thoroughly rinsed it is time to pat, pat, pat the chicken to remove any access moisture.

Today, we will be utilizing the spatchcock chicken method on the Pit Barrel Cooker. If you are not familiar with the term spatchcock, it essentially means that we are going to remove the backbone and flatten the chicken.

Using this method makes the chicken easier to season and will allow your chicken to cook evenly.

You can remove the backbone in several ways. Some people will use kitchen shears, while I prefer to use a bread knife. Either way, you are going to need both hands in order to remove the backbone.

Beginning with a bread knife, you will cut down both sides of the backbone. Some extra effort will be needed to cut through the pelvic area.

Once completed you should be able to remove the backbone without any issues.

At the end of removing the backbone of your chicken, you should now have two chicken halves ready. Each half should have a breast, chicken thigh, leg, and wing.

Now, it is time to season them.

In this recipe, I am using a little bit of canola oil as a binder and lemon pepper.the binder will allow the seasoning to remain on the skin of the chicken.

Random thought: It is pretty amazing that these two ingredients are all that you need to add flavor to this easy smoked chicken recipe.

Be sure to coat both sides of the chicken evenly with the rub for maximum flavor.

Keep in mind that the smoker not only cooks the whole chicken but it adds flavor to the meat through the smoke.

We will get into the different types of wood that we will be used to season our smoke.

A key to a successful cook with the Pit Barrel Cooker is the proper placement of the hooks. The hooks should be inserted into the breastplate of the chicken, allowing it to hang vertically in the cooker.

This allows for even cooking and helps to achieve that deliciously tender result. You can also fold the wing over the hooks to keep the chicken secure during the cooking process.

Since the backbone has been removed there isn't anything other than the skin that connects the breast and chicken thighs to one another. If there was anything that happened to the skin during the smoke then the bottom portion may tear away and fall into the charcoal basket. Which would be a total bummer.

Therefore, to ensure that everything is secure, I recommend adding a second hook at the bottom and then connecting the bottom hook to the top hook.

This method is a small deviation from a standard smoked chicken recipe on the Pit Barrel Cooker.

However, I believe that proper hook placement is crucial, so take your time to ensure that the hooks are positioned correctly.

Time to talk about the smoker that we will be using. Which is the Pit Barrel Cooker. This smoker fits into the vertical barrel or drum type of smoker category.

The heat source is charcoal, which is placed into a basket and resides at the bottom of the barrel. The heat and smoke travel upwards encasing the meat in a 360° envelope of flavor.

The main difference between the Pit Barrel Cooker and other vertical or drum smokers is that there are rods that are inserted at the top. Not only do the rods allow for proper airflow, but the rods also allow you to hang the meat. Hanging the meat allows all of the different sides of the meat to be touched by the smoke. There is no need to rotate the meat.

Temperature is controlled by opening and closing the damper that is located at the bottom of the barrel.

Fill up the basket about three-fourths of the way with charcoal briquettes. The other one-fourth of the charcoal will be ignited within a charcoal chimney before dumping the entire chimney unto the charcoal basket at the bottom of the smoker.

Once the coals have come up to temp, which will be right around 250 Degrees Fahrenheit, we will add a chunk of Applewood and another wood chunk of Hickory on top of the coals.

The Pit Barrel Cooker has gained a reputation among barbecue enthusiasts for its simplicity and outstanding results. Even complete charcoal grilling and smoking beginners have been able to produce results that are comparable to BBQ competition competitors.

One of the highlights of smoking a whole chicken is the opportunity to achieve crispy, golden-brown skin that's packed with smoky wood flavor. The Pit Barrel Cooker, with its unique design and cooking method, can help you achieve that desirable crispy skin while ensuring that the meat is perfectly cooked.

As your chicken smokes in the Pit Barrel Cooker for over 1.5 hours, the skin will absorb the smoky flavors from the wood chips or wood chunks, resulting in a deliciously aromatic and savory outer layer.

The slow cooking process also allows the chicken's natural juices to seep into the meat, keeping it moist and tender.

The last time that I cooked a whole chicken. The outside temperature in Orlando, Florida was 95 Degrees Fahrenheit. My smoker ran a lot hotter than it normally does. For a normal temperature, I am usually around 240 Degrees Fahrenheit to 260.

In this instance, my smoker was around 275 Degrees Fahrenheit with a spike up to 300 Degrees.

Heat fluctuations are a pretty typical event when grilling or smoking.

As such, it's important to be mindful of external factors such as weather conditions that may affect the temperature of your smoker and require adjustments to your cooking technique.

To ensure that your chicken skin turns out crispy, it's essential to monitor the cooking process closely. If you prefer crispy skin, you can opt to brush the skin with a little oil or melted butter before smoking, as this can help promote a crispy texture. Remember that we used canola oil as our binder. You can also adjust the heat and cooking time to achieve the desired level of crispiness.

Once your chicken has reached the desired internal temperature, and the skin is crispy and golden, it's time to remove it from the Pit Barrel Cooker and let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Allowing grilled meat, including smoked chicken, to rest before cutting into it is crucial for several reasons.

First, resting allows the meat to continue cooking and reach its final internal temperature, ensuring that it is cooked evenly and thoroughly. This helps to avoid undercooked or raw spots in the meat.

Second, resting allows the meat's juices to redistribute, resulting in a juicier and more flavorful end product. If you cut into the meat immediately after cooking, the juices may run out, resulting in a dry and less enjoyable eating experience.

Lastly, resting gives the meat time to firm up slightly, making it easier to slice or carve without the meat falling apart.

It's recommended to let the smoked chicken rest for about 5-10 minutes before cutting into it to ensure the best results.

With a family of four, there isn't always a lot of leftover chicken. However, we tend to pick over the chicken throughout the week and do utilize the leftovers for other dishes.

Below are just a few examples of what you can do with the leftovers.

In conclusion, smoking a whole chicken on a Pit Barrel Cooker is an easy and delicious way to enjoy tender and flavorful chicken with a smoky twist.

By following simple steps such as preparing the chicken, seasoning with a rub, hook placement, monitoring the internal temperature, and allowing the chicken to rest before cutting into it, you can achieve perfectly smoked chicken with crispy skin and juicy meat.

Remember to experiment with different rubs and flavor profiles to customize the taste to your liking. With the Pit Barrel Cooker and the right techniques, you can impress your family and friends with a mouthwatering smoked chicken dish that will leave them asking for seconds.

So fire up your Pit Barrel Cooker and get ready to enjoy some finger-licking good smoked chicken!

Make sure to comeback to SmokyBeginnings.com as we are continuously adding new recipes and tips to the site.

Happy smoking!